Women’s street harassment unacceptable: Rula Ghani

KABUL (Pajhwok): First Lady Rula Ghani on Sunday expressed her concern over the increasing violence against women and said street harassment of women was unacceptable and people should change their minds.

While talking about the International Women’s Day at the Ministry of Interior, Rula Ghani said women in uniform particularly in the police force, had played a special role in stability of the country.

She said policewomen should also play their role in preventing violence against women.

Calling violence against the gender a matter of great concern, she said women were always harassed by men on the streets. Afghan forces should maintain security on streets and prevent such harassment, she said.

“Women’s harassment should be stopped, it is unacceptable to us, people should change their mind about women because women are not enemies of men, they are your spouses, mothers, sisters and daughters,” she said.

MoI gender and human rights director Brig. Gen. Hekmat Shahi said despite the women’s day being celebrated every year and government’s promise to improve women’s living conditions, violence against females continued to persist.

She said 705 cases of violence against women took place during the past one year across in the country and 536 of the cases had been referred to attorney and the rest of others under police investigation.

Acting Interior Minister Taj Mohammad Jahid promised he would always take care of female police personnel and would provide them with good duty opportunities if he was granted a vote of confidence by the Wolesi Jirga.

“Providing safe duty stations to policewomen is one of my primary goals. No one will harass policewomen in line of duty and their male counterparts would treat them like family members,” Jahid added.

The number of female police has reached 3,000 in the country and the Ministry of Interior plans to increase their strength to 5,000 in next one or two years.